Airlines apply fuel surcharge to offset rising costs

HCMC – AirAsia on Tuesday reintroduced fuel surcharge for all routes, including those between Malaysia and Vietnam, after other foreign airlines adjusted their fuel surcharges to counter the effects of the world’s rising oil prices. AirAsia said the reintroduction was to offset the escalating jet fuel price two and a half years after the leading low-cost carrier in Asia abolished its fuel surcharge in a move to implement a ‘No Admin Fee’ policy. Jet fuel has exceeded US$140 per barrel, which is much higher than that in November 2008 when the carrier removed the fuel surcharge from its air tickets. “The rising jet fuel prices and the continuous upward spiral caused by the situation in the Middle East and other external factors have made it imperative for us to reintroduce the fuel surcharge,” said Kathleen Tan, regional head of commercial at AirAsia. AirAsia will collect fuel surcharge of 10 ringgits (US$3.36) for international flights less than two hours, 20 ringgits for two to three-hour flights, 30 ringgits for flights longer than three hours from Kuala Lumpur. The fee is from 50 ringgits to 90 ringgits for the long-haul flights serviced by AirAsia X to China, Korea, India, Taiwan, Australia, Tokyo, Paris and London. AirAsia and its member airlines Thai AirAsia and Indonesia AirAsia fly from Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok and Jakarta to HCMC and Hanoi, with flying times of more than two hours registered for the Hanoi-Kuala Lumpur and HCMC-Jakarta routes. AirAsia is the latest foreign airline active in Vietnam to…